Governor Delivers 2021 State of the State Address

Governor Delivers 2021 State of the
State Address

[Video clip of Governor Lamont delivering the 2020 State of the State address:
Thank you again for trusting me with this office and inviting me back into the hall, the
room where it happens. And thanks to our partnership, the state of our state is getting
stronger.]

Last year’s State of the State address seems like a long, long time ago.

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senator Kelly, Representative Candelora, my fellow state
officials, members of the General Assembly and the Judicial Branch, Lt. Governor
Bysiewicz, honored guests, and the people of the great state of Connecticut.

Two years ago, as your new governor, you welcomed me into the “room where it
happens.” This year, that room has become a “virtual room.”

I want to express my most sincere gratitude to the nurses, doctors, caregivers, National
Guard, teachers, and the many other essential workers who are on the front lines of our
fight against COVID. You have all stepped up in ways we and you never would have
imagined necessary or possible. On behalf of a very grateful state: thank you, thank you,
thank you.

Before we begin, I would like to take a moment of silence for members of our
Connecticut family, who we have lost this past year.

Two years ago, I introduced my family to you — adding that Annie and I consider
Connecticut like an extension of our own family. After ten months of COVID, that is truer
today than it was ever before.

Every day, we are reminded that we are all in this together, and like any large family, we
must look out and care for one another.

Goodbye 2020 and good riddance, a year that has been the most challenging and
humbling of my life. One year ago today, we had never heard of COVID, and pandemics
seemed a thing of the past. One year later, we have lost over 6,000 members of our
Connecticut family to this deadly virus. Schools and universities are trying their hardest

to stay open, businesses are fighting for their survival, and working families are
struggling to stay afloat.

But, thanks to all of you, and our amazing scientific community which has developed a
safe and effective vaccine in less than one year, there is a hopeful light on the horizon,
our state and our nation are on the mend, and Connecticut’s comeback is happening.

Two years ago, I promised an open door and a bigger table that included Democrats and
Republicans, labor and business. After ten months of COVID, that bigger table also
includes our reopening committee — which featured the best healthcare minds not just
in Connecticut, but in the country — to guide us through this crisis led by science and
honesty. Some of those very members are now advising the president-elect.

Public Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford and Trinity Healthcare President Reggie
Eadie formed the Vaccine Advisory Group with scientific and community leaders giving
us confidence that it is safe and effective to take the vaccine.

In keeping with the Hamilton theme from two years ago, when I spoke about a young
Alexander Hamilton arriving in America — the land of opportunity, and not wanting to
waste his shot — in today’s day and age, we are all thinking about the vaccine, which
only makes a difference if nobody wastes their shot.

Similarly, two years ago I stressed the importance of resetting the relationships with our

neighboring and regional states. For too long, those relationships had been neglected.
And as our neighboring governors understood, this virus doesn’t respect state borders.
When the federal government failed to come up with a national strategy, I worked with
Gina and Charlie in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Phil in New Jersey, and of course
Andrew in neighboring New York.

COVID is not the only challenge that doesn’t respect borders. I am going to continue to
build upon those relationships to implement more effective and less expensive solutions,
such as faster transportation options which incentivize a move to all electric vehicles, a
zero-carbon electric grid, and stronger protections against cyberattacks.

I am working with our neighboring states and look forward to working with our tribal
partners on a path forward to modernize gaming in our state, as well as the legislature
on legalization of marijuana. Sports betting, internet gaming, and legalized marijuana
are happening all around us. Let’s not surrender these opportunities to out-of-state
markets or even worse, underground markets.

Racism is another virus which knows no borders. Following the tragic deaths of George
Floyd and Breonna Taylor, our nation and our state found itself at a historical moment of
reckoning — forced to finally confront the hard truths of racial inequality and injustice —
but protests are only meaningful if they are a call to action.

Unlike the violence which jarred protests in other states, our protests highlighted the
best in Connecticut values — with black and white, suburbs and cities, police and

protesters locking arms in a common cause.

Two years ago, we emphasized broader access to affordable healthcare as a basic human
right. After COVID, we have a renewed understanding that affordable, quality healthcare
is not only essential to us as individuals, but critically important for the well-being of our
communities. If you cannot get tested, if you cannot quarantine safely, if you don’t have
ready access to the vaccine, that’s not only dangerous for you, that’s dangerous for all of
us.

Two years ago, when we passed paid family and medical leave, we understood how
important it was that if illness struck, you didn’t have to choose between the family you
love and the job you need. When COVID struck, even the federal government rushed to
implement their own version of paid medical leave for their two-million employees. No
more workers feeling they had to show up to work feeling sick or infectious fearing for
their livelihoods.

Two years ago, a $15 minimum wage meant that a minimum wage worker could earn
enough to provide for his or her family. After COVID, we better understand that the
minimum wage worker is an essential worker — one of the many heroes who never
stopped providing for our children at daycare, ensuring there’s enough food on the
shelves of our grocery stores or taking care of our elderly. These heroes cannot simply
telecommute, their work is too essential.

Last spring, some of these essential workers began working with Commissioner Beth

Bye to identify the childcare centers located next to our hospitals. Within weeks, 26
childcare centers were open and providing free childcare to those frontline workers
taking care of us.

To those small businesses struggling to keep their doors open whose employees are
some of the many working families trying to make ends meet during this COVID
recession, we are continuing to provide grants to keep you afloat until federal aid
arrives, especially for the hospitality and restaurant sectors, which have been hit
hardest.

Similarly, through our Shared Work Program, we have streamlined our unemployment
benefit program so employers can save jobs and retain their workers until the economy
is fully back.

Two years ago, I vowed to work tirelessly to ensure that all our kids have the greatest
opportunities to thrive, succeed, and create a life of their own — right here in
Connecticut.

With many students having to learn from home, COVID revealed that too many students
are left on the wrong side of the digital divide that exacerbates the achievement gap.
Computers, internet access, and broadband – these are the tools essential to students’
success during COVID and for the foreseeable future.

When the pandemic struck, we worked together — public, private, and nonprofits — to
solve this digital divide.

[Video clip of President-Elect Joe Biden: Dr. Cardona has brought his heart, his
knowledge, and his passion for education to bear on behalf of the students across
Connecticut. And when that pandemic struck, he was ready. He helped secure more than
140,000 laptops, more than 40,000 internet connections for students who lack them.
Because of him, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to ensure that every
single public school student was equipped to engage in remote learning regardless of
family income.]

Of course, the president-elect is referring to our very own Education Commissioner
Miguel Cardona, who will be the nation’s next secretary of Education.

We will also be the first state to broaden the teaching of history and social studies to
make sure that our Black and Hispanic children along with their white peers have a
better appreciation of their histories and civilizations, including Native American
history, which are so much about who they are and who we are.

This year, we will continue to emphasize our best-in-the-nation public schools and
workforce development, making sure every child, regardless of zip code, race, color, or
creed, has the best opportunity at the starting line of life.

After ten months of COVID, the entire state should rise to its feet and applaud the
dedication of our teachers. With schools closed around the country, we kept more of
ours safely open, because we prioritize our children and their futures, because they are
our future.

Voting is all about our children, and that’s why elections do matter. Secretary of the
State Denise Merrill gets a shout out for making it easier for us to vote safely – and with
integrity – during this pandemic. Voters appreciated the absentee ballots and early
voting. We should make this permanent.

Two years ago, we emphasized how important an on-time, honestly balanced budget is to
families, mayors, first select persons, and small businesses so that they can accurately
plan for their future. Thanks to your support, we passed an honestly balanced budget. It
included a down payment on paying off our longstanding pension liabilities and created
the largest rainy-day fund in our state’s history.

In these turbulent economic times, we are well positioned to fund our critical services
without draconian cuts or broad tax increases.

Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal asked, “What’s Wrong with Connecticut?” Now,
commentators across the country are applauding our budgetary approach. As a
recognition of this hard work, outside analysts have repeatedly reported that
Connecticut is getting its fiscal house in order, and Treasurer Shawn Wooden
appreciates that we can now borrow at the lowest interest rates in our history, helping

us to rebuild our economy at less cost to our taxpayers.

COVID brings us back to healthcare, the fastest growing piece of our state budget and
your family budget. This year, we implemented cost and quality benchmarks for
healthcare procedures and services, similar to the benchmarks that have saved
Massachusetts families and taxpayers billions of dollars.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo continues to prioritize centers of healthcare excellence where
your family can count on higher quality healthcare at less cost. This is true for our small
businesses and state employees alike.

Attorney General William Tong is pushing to hold down generic drug prices. This year,
Connecticut expanded healthcare access at less cost for the first time in years.

Two years ago, I said I do not want our state defined by a chronic fiscal crisis, which had
been our norm and was sapping our confidence. Today, I don’t want our state to be
defined by a COVID crisis – instead, I want this to be the year we changed the narrative
of Connecticut. Let this be the year of the Connecticut comeback!

There are many reasons young families and new businesses are giving us a second look
and choosing Connecticut. Perhaps it’s the quality of our education, or a more stable
fiscal outlook. Maybe it’s our mayors, who creatively brought our cities and town centers
to life, including some of the best and safest outdoor dining experiences in the country.

COVID may not be our last pandemic, and our new neighbors arriving in moving vans
prefer quarantining in a small backyard rather than in a small apartment or
telecommuting rather than taking a crowded subway.

Whatever the reason, as people seek to improve the quality of their lives, they are
choosing Connecticut. Tens of thousands of young families have moved to the state for
the first time in a generation because they recognize and appreciate our Connecticut
values.

Connecticut was ranked one of the best states in the country to raise a family, for
women, for working mothers, and for public safety.

Within those rankings, Connecticut ranks even higher for education, childcare, and
women’s health. COVID has pushed too many women out of the workforce, but not for
long.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz leads a Council on Women and Girls to make sure we stay
the most family-friendly state in the country and a leader for pay equity.

In this coming year, we will be expanding our commitment to affordable housing, access
to broadband, transit-oriented development, open choice school incentives, as well as an
expansion of our workforce development and small business growth fund. That’s how we
get Connecticut growing again, and working for all of our families, with liberty and

justice for all.

The Connecticut I know is a state which hasn’t and won’t let itself be defined by this
crisis. Instead, it’s a state which responded to its generational calling with thousands of
volunteers providing food, support, and encouragement to hundreds of cars filled with
hungry families at the Rentschler Field Food Distribution Center, nurses coming out of
retirement to help at COVID clinics, college students stepping up to serve as apprentice
teachers, business leaders leveraging their contacts to provide the state with masks and
gowns, and countless other examples of Connecticut meeting its generational challenge.

These are Connecticut values.

The next year will continue to be a challenging time for our state and nation, but I have
never been more optimistic about our future.

Through our shared values and commitment to one another, we will rise above this crisis
and build a better tomorrow. Today is the first day of Connecticut’s comeback story.

God bless you all. And may God continue to bless the great State of Connecticut.

Happy New Year 2021

Dear Neighbor,

I fervently hope you and your family are ready to ring in the New Year with bells on!

This past year has been so difficult for so many, I invite you to join me in looking forward
to 2021 with renewed optimism, hope, and determination to support those most
impacted, and create together a thriving landscape for all our families, as we open our
new legislative session. I’m ready to work together with you to make some “good
trouble” with good change, as your state representative.

n addition to marking the start of 2021, Jan. 1 also marks the enactment of new laws in
our state.

Among these is legislation capping the monthly cost of insulin and other equipment

necessary to manage diabetes. The law also permits pharmacists to prescribe a 30-day
supply of diabetes-related drugs and devices to patients in certain emergency situations.

Read the full list of laws taking effect here.

The 2021 legislative session will begin Jan. 6 and you can expect a continued
commitment by me to serve our community and carry our district’s voices to the state
Capitol. I want to hear from you about the issues that matter most to you and your
family.

Stay safe, stay well, and happy New Year.

Wishing You a Joyful and Healthy

Christmas

I always considered myself fortunate, growing up in Easton. Most of my​ ​relatives were
within a 20-minute drive, meaning we gathered together over the holidays, often at my
childhood home.

My cousins, siblings and I eagerly tore​ ​into our stockings as soon as our parents allowed
us. We added all the leaves to​ ​the table so we could sit together and feast. We sang the
“Twelve Days of Christmas​” ​as a family. As my siblings and I got older, we began
attending midnight services at Jesse Lee United Methodist Church. Throughout the
month of December, we’d see the nativity scene come​ ​out.

Each week, a new advent candle would be lit. And finally, at midnight​ ​services, we would
each hold a candle and sing “Joy to the World.” All those traditions I associate with
Christmas are no-nos in 2020. It goes without saying that this year will be different. I’ll
be home for Christmas … 2021?

After spending this summer in Easton, I’ve relocated to New York and decided against
coming back to Easton for the holiday. Even with a pandemic raging, New York is
beautiful at Christmastime, and we recently got a dusting of snow to top it off. My
celebratory surroundings almost take the edge off of the​ ​disappointment that it just isn’t
safe for me to be home right now.

It would be easy to lament Christmas as yet another thing 2020 has taken​ ​away from me.
But I’d rather take this moment to be an opportunity not just to feel melancholy ​but also
to remember that there is more to come. Fundamentally, Christmas is the​ ​story of a
birth — and a lonely one at that. I​ ​think the pandemic has been a lonely, ​yet occasionally
rewarding rebirth for many of us. Who will I be when this​ ​pandemic ends?

It’s a question I’ve pondered a lot lately, with news of vaccines coming. I’m​ ​sure there
will be things about my quarantine Christmas I’ll be missing this​ ​time next year: the
solitude of being in my apartment with a cup of tea, the​ ​calm in not having to worry
about how I’ll be getting home and when.

Maybe you’ve​ ​joined me in finding new hobbies to take up this year or in reaching out to​
friends you’ve fallen out of contact with to catch up. I hope that my​ ​post-pandemic self
continues to value these things.

Easton, I hope you celebrate Christmas — and any other holiday you observe —​ ​safely
this winter. I will miss the warmth of being home this year, for sure. But we will emerge
from this strange time eventually, and when we do, you can be sure I’ll be back home to
celebrate.

Until then, my Courier colleagues and I​ ​wish you safe, joyful holidays and peace and
good health for years to come.